|  | 2.3 | Switching and VLANs
| 2.3.7 | Symmetric and asymmetric switching
Symmetric switching is one way to characterize a LAN switch according to the bandwidth allocated to each port on the switch. A symmetric switch provides switched connections between ports with the same bandwidth, such as all 10-Mbps ports or all 100-Mbps ports. As shown in Figure an asymmetric LAN switch provides switched connections between ports of unlike bandwidth, such as a combination of 10- Mbps and 100-Mbps ports. Asymmetric switching makes the most of client/server network traffic flows where multiple clients are communicating with a server at the same time, requiring more bandwidth dedicated to the switch port that the server is connected to in order to prevent a bottleneck at that port. As you will learn in the next section, memory buffering in an asymmetric switch is required to allow traffic from the 100-Mbps port to be sent to a 10-Mbps port without causing too much congestion at the 10-Mbps port.
| Lab Activity
| In this lab you will examine an Ethernet Switch to gather information about its physical characteristics and begin to appreciate the function of switches in a network. You will determine the model number and features of a specific switch including which interfaces are present and to which cabling and devices they are connected.